Introduction to Human

Resource
Management
Introduction
 Leon c megginson gave the definition of
Human Resource- ‘the total knowledge, shills,
creative abilities, talents of an org’s workforce as
well as values, beliefs and attitudes of
individuals involved
 HR manager- builds up an effective workforce,
handle expectations of the employees and
ensure they perform their best
Definition and Concept of HRM
 Definition- HRM is a function performed in orgs
that facilitates the most effective use of people to
achieve orgl and individual goals
 HRM consists of 4 functions-
 Acquiring
 Development-training, mgmt dev and career
development
 Motivation
 Retention- providing a conducive environment
History of HRM
 Scientific management Approach
 Given by Fredrick Taylor
 He discarded the beliefs of constant control
 He suggested that managers adopt scientific
and objective approach to determine how
work could be designed and carried out most
effectively
 Focused on study of motions, tools and time
 Fair performance standards were determined
on the basis of scientific data
 More the output more the incentives
 Workers solely motivated by money led to
many problems- high standardization and little
mental activity
 Concepts of ‘economic man’ and ‘piece-rate
method’ also evolved at this time
 Human Relations Approach
 Hawthrone studies- employee productivity is
affected by social and psychological factors
 Elton Mayo- emotions and feelings of
employees are influenced by group
relationships and management support
 Strength of unions grew up which gave
workers a legal right to organize and bargain
collectively
The approach was not successful for the
following reasons-
 Assumption that a happy worker is a hard
worker
 It did not recognize individual differences

 It did not recognize the need for a job

structure
 Failed to recognize other factors that

influence employee satisfaction like career

development job enrichment
 Human Resource approach
 Treatingpeople as resources and human
beings will lead to real benefits for the
organization
 Based on a number of principles-
 Employees are assets to an organization
 Policies, programs and practices must cater to the

needs of employees
 Create and maintain a conducive work

enviornment
Functions of HRM
Managing people is one of the biggest
challenges because-
 Individuals differ from each other in terms of
values, attitudes, beliefs
 Motivational factors might not be same
 Expectations of employees are much greater
today
HRM functions can be categorized in 2
categories-
 Managerial functions
 Operative functions
MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS
 Planning
 Formulating future course of action (personnel
programs and changes required)
 Identifying human resource requirements and
forecasting personnel needs
 Organizing
 Establishingroles for people in an org such as
chain org command, division of labor,
assignment of responsibility
 Staffing
 Obtaining and maintaining capable personnel
in various positions at all levels
 Directing
 Directing
all the available resources towards
the common orgl goals
 Controlling
 Measurement and rectification of activities to
ensure that they conform to plans i.e.
measuring performance against plans
 OPERATIVE FUNCTIONS
They are relates to specific activities of HRM
1. Employment- procuring and employing
individuals with suitable knowledge,
skills, experience and aptitude. It
includes-
 Job analysis- tasks which comprise the job
are determined and the skills and abilities
required to perform it successfully are
identified
 Human Resource Planning- involves
 forecasting the human resource requirements
of an org and future supply of human
resources and making adjustments between
the two
 Making changes and develop the existing
employees to enable them meet future orgl
requirements
 Estimating net human resource requirements
on the basis of retirements transfers, attrition
 Recruitment- involves
 Tapping sources of applicants
 Attracting and stimulating candidates

 Selection- choosing the right candidate for

the job. It includes
 Scanning the application forms
 Developing suitable testing techniques
 Evaluating and then intimating the candidates
 Employing the selected candidates
 Placement-selected candidate is the
decided about a suitable placement in an
org. it involves
 Discussing the placement with functional
managers
 Conducting a follow up study

 Induction- introducing the new employee

to the organization, org culture, values
beliefs, practices and procedures
2. Human Resource Development (HRD)-
process of training and developing the
employees to improve their knowledge and skills
to perform their jobs better. It includes-
 Performance Appraisal- process of
evaluating the performance of an employee on
the job and developing a plan for improvement.
It includes-
 Developing and implementing suitable
methods
 Obtaining feedback on it effectiveness
 Training- systematic development to the
knowledge, skills and attitudes required to
perform a job successfully. It includes-
 Identifying training needs
 Designing and conducting suitable training
programs
 Evaluating the effectiveness
 Management Development- developing the
employees of an org to meet future needs and
challenges
 Career Planning and Development
 Planning- identifying career goals and
formulating plans of reaching them through
various means like education, work
experience (from individual’s point of view)
 Development- looks at individual’s goals from
the point of view of org
3. Compensation- all the extrinsic rewards
that an employee receives during and after
the course of job. It includes base salary,
incentives, bonus and benefits

 Job evaluation- involves classifying a job

based on its importance and its contribution to
the org and its requirements
 Wage and Salary administration- process of
formulating and operating a suitable wage and
salary program

 Incentives- rewards an employee earns in

addition to regular wages or salary based on the
performance of the individual, team or org

 Bonus- share in surplus and is directly related

to org’s performance
 Fringe benefits- monetary and non-monetary
benefits given to employees during their
employment and sometimes post employment
also. Not related to employee’s performance.
Like- housing facilities, canteen, conveyance,
educational facilities
4. Employee Relations- deals with employees
in the orgl context, as a social group that
contributes to the org. it includes-
 Keeping employees satisfied and motivated
 Developing team building and leadership
skills in employees
 Grievance mgmt system
 Enhancing quality of work like
•An employee desires his
managers to possess following
characteristics-
•Be genuinely interested in the
employee
•Lend support and guidance
•Clarity in job responsibilities
•Identify the strength and
weaknesses of the employee
•Reward employee for his
contribution
Emerging Role of HRM
The competencies and attitudes of human
resources can make or break the business
 Human resources-Competitive advantage
According to Adi godrej “ all corporate strengths
are dependent on people” i.e. human
resources have become an essential factor in
determining success of any org
 Human Resource Accounting-
measurement of the cost and value of people for
an organization
 it is accounting people as organizational
resources
 Accounting helps mgmt to value its human
resources and use it with discretion and
wisdom
Role of HR Executive
 Service Provider- interviewer, compensation
analyst, job analyst
provides info of market statistics of personnel
availability, pay rates
 Executive- though HRM is a part of every
manager’s job, yet HR specialists typically carry
out certain activities like recruitment,
compensation
 Facilitator- in T and D and performance
appraisal
 Consultant- managers may seek advises of
HR specialist to resolve problems of training, job
misfit, grievances
 Auditor- controlling function. Ensures that all
managers perform their respective roles
concerned with effective use of HR
Challenges to HR Professionals
 Business environment is turbulent
 Markets have become competitive and service
oriented
 Challenging task is to attract, mould develop and
retain valuable employees
 Expectations of employees has increased-
knowledge workers
 They are in demand and in a position to chose
their employer
 Worker Productivity- to increase worker
productivity
 Tall hierarchy and communication barriers
have been removed
 Empowerment
 Workforce revolution- encourage employees
to be creative and proactive and willing to
take risk involved in autonomy
 Self managed teams
 Quality Improvement-
 Quality is imp for survival
 Quality is all pervasive
 Leaders like GE are setting quality standards
Welch- proactive step i.e. early adoption of
'quality mantra’
 Needs- strong org wide commitment,
education and training, team work, top mgmt
commitment
 Changing attitudes of the Workforce
 Cost cutting measures- downsizing
 Concept of ‘job security’ is outdated
 Even employees are on the look out for better
opportunities
 Global markets- employees are moving
across the world
 Workforce diversity has been the major
challenge for orgs
 Companies are becoming family friendly
E.g. ONGC- encourages employee children by
rewarding scholarships
 Flexible working hours- major demand of
knowledge workers, women workers and IT
companies are catering to this demand.
flexibility can prove to be more productive.
 Concept of ‘working from home’ is also
catching up
 Impact of the government
 Economic reforms in 1991 have changed the
face of Indian Economy
 Various labor laws formed and amended has
tuned the psyche of orgs and the workforce
 Quality of Work Life
 Employee has some expectations from his
wok
 QWL gets better is one or more of these
needs are satisfied
 Technology and Training
 Use of computer technology is now pervasive
 Companies are investing in these
technologies and also train employees for
adopting new technology
Strategic HRM
 Strategy- way of doing something. Includes
formulation of goal and set of actions for
accomplishment of that goal
 Strategic Management- mgmt of available
resources to achieve the goals of an org in a
dynamic and competitive environment.
Emphasizes monitoring and evaluating
environmental opportunities and threats in light
of org’s strength and weaknesses
 Strategic HRM-
 Optimum utilization of human resources to
achieve the set goals and objectives in
business environment
 HR manager is now becoming a member of
strategic mgmt process
 HRM makes strategic mgmt highly effective
by supplying human resources who are
competent and committed
Examples
 TCS- 28000 software engineers from 32
countries
 Hiringpeople starts right at the college level
 TCS funds several events like seminars and
conferences in IITs and also abroad like Harvard and
Kellogg
 Wipro- exit interviews
 Toyota- employee suggestion scheme